Cabinet door lock



March 1, 1966 F. G. STARK 3,238,003

CABINET DOOR LOCK Filed March 4;, 1964 A T TOPNE'YS United States Patent Office 3,238,003 Patented Mar. 1, 1966 3,238,003 CABINET DOOR LOCK Forest G. Stark, Jamestown, N.Y., assignor to Art Metal, Inc., Jamestown, N.Y. Filed Mar. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 349,356 4 Claims. (Cl. 312219) This invention relates to cabinet door locks, and more particularly to a single locking device for simultaneously locking a plurality of side-by-side sliding type door panels, or the like.

It is one object of the present invention to provide in a cabinet a structurally simple yet rugged and reliable spring lock-controlled latch bar arrangement for simultaneously locking a plurality of cabinet closing slide panels against unintended opening.

Another object is to provide an improved device as aforesaid which is inexpensive to manufacture and which occupies minimum space within the cabinet and which avoids interference with full use of the cabinet, and is otherwise unobstrusive.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following specification and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a two-door cabinet equipped with a door lock device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section, on enlarged scale, taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged scale fragmentary section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the lock mechanism, apart from the cabinet.

The invention is illustrated by way of example herein as applied to a cabinet of the pedestal type having legs 10, a top cover 12, and side walls and a rear wall and a bottom wall; and having a full front opening arranged to be closed by a pair of slide panels 14, 16. The top plate 12 and the bottom wall of the cabinet are provided across their front edges with parallel slide track means as indicated at 18, 19, for holding the panels 14, 16 in vertically standing but edgewise slidable positions; the tracks for the panel 16 being behind the tracks for the panel 14. The panels are preferably provided with finger grip devices as indicated at 20, 20 to facilitate manual movements of the panels back and forth to expose the interior of one side or the other of the cabinet. As shown at 21, a smooth-surfaced molding is preferably applied around the front side and bottom edges of the cabinet to enhance the ornamental appearance thereof.

The panel locking mechanism of the invention is shown herein to comprise, a rocker bar 22 which is housed within and pivotally mounted as indicated at 24 upon a generally channel-sectioned false ceiling member 26 which is spot-welded or the like to the cabinet structure just under the top plate 12 and behind the upper track member. At one end the bar 22 is notched to receive the turned finger portion 28 of an inverted L-shaped strut 30 which extends from and is fixed at its bottom end as shown at 31 to a conventional spring barrel type lock as indicated at 32. The lock casing 32 is slidably mounted within a complementary shaped aperture in the cabinet molding so as to be movable as between the solid line and broken line positions thereof shown in FIGS. 2, 3.

A compression spring 34 hooks at one end as shown at 36 (FIGS. 3, 6) into an apertured portion of the cabinet structure, and bears outwardly at its other end against the lock casing 32 so as to bias it outwardly towards its unlocked position as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 2, 3. The barrel of the lock as indicated at 38 is slightly rotatable within the casing 32 upon insertion of the proper key and manual rotation thereof, and is provided with a radially extending finger 39 (FIG. 3) adapted to hook behind a striker plate 40 carried by the cabinet, when the lock device is pushed into its locking position. Insertion of the key and slight rotation thereof will thereupon release the lock so that the spring 34 may displace it outwardly to the broken line position thereof as seen in the drawing herewith.

At its opposite end the lock bar 22 is formed with a forwardly directed finger portion 42 (FIG. 2) and the parts are so dimensioned and arranged that when the lock device is pressed inwardly as to its solid line position in the drawing, the lock bar will be thereby pivoted about the device 24 so that the finger portion 42 thereof enters an apertured portion of the panel 14 (assuming both panels to be in their cabinet-closing positions as shown in FIGS. 1, 2). Note that the finger 42 passes alongside the end of the panel 16 as it enters the aperture of panel 14; thereby at once locking both panels in cabinet closing positions and against any sliding movements in their tracks. As previously explained, the lock mechanism then holds the device in panel locking position until such time as the lock key is inserted and turned, whereupon the spring 34 causes the lock casing to displace outwardly, thereby swinging the lock bar 22 so as to retract the finger portion 42 from panel holding position.

It is to be particularly noted that the lock bar and associated devices are all of compact and space-saving form and are neatly nested above and to one side of the cabinet opening space without interfering with access thereto, while nevertheless ranging from the lock side of the cabinet horizontally to beyond its front center portion, to provide the multiple panel locking function illustrated and described hereinabove. It will of course also be appreciated that whereas the drawing herewith shows the invention applied to only a two-panel locking arrangement, it may be similarly applied to any number of sliding panels; and that although only one form of the invention has been illustrattd and described in detail hereinabove, various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A cabinet having a frame providing an open front,

a pair of doors for selectively closing said open front of the cabinet,

track means on said frame mounting said doors for sliding movement along spaced apart parallel paths,

said doors being of widths such that when closed, the

inner edges thereof are disposed in overlapping relation,

a horizontal lock bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on said frame about a vertical axis offset inwardly of said doors, one end of said bar being disposed adjacent the region of the inner ends of said doors when closed and having a horizontal finger portion projecting forwardly from said lock bar across the path of movement of one door closely adjacent the inner edge thereof and projecting into the other door, whereby both doors are prevented from movement along their respective paths,

and means for selectively moving said lock bar about its pivot to withdraw said finger portion from within said other door and out of the path of movement of said one door, .whereby said doors are unlocked and free to move along their respective paths.

2. The cabinet as defined in claim 1 wherein said means includes a lock mounted in said frame and having a slidable plunger engaging the other end of said lock bar, and

spring means normally urging said plunger in a direction to swing said lock bar to door-unlocking position.

3. A cabinet having a front panel provided with an opening,

upper and lower horizontal track means disposed along the respective upper and lower boundaries of said opening and defining side-by-side tracks extending between the opposite sides of said opening,

an inner door disposed with its upper and lower edges within the inner of said tracks and the outer door disposed with its upper and lower edges within the outer of said tracks, said doors being of widths such that their inner edges are overlapped when their outer edges are adjacent the respective side boundaries of said opening and the doors at their limits of travel within their respective tracks,

compartment means extending along the upper boundary of said opening behind said track means,

horizontal lock bar disposed with-in said compartment means having one end disposed adjacent one side of said cabinet, an opposite end disposed behind the region of overlap between said door-s when closed as aforesaid, and said lock bar being pivotally mounted intermediate its ends about a vertical axis parallel to said doors but olfset inwardly therefrom, a finger portion on said opposite end of the lock bar projecting forwardly through said compartment means across the path of movement of said inner 4 door adjacent said inner edge thereof and into said outer door, whereby both doors are prevented from movement along their respective paths,

and means for selectively moving said lock bar about its pivot to Withdnaw said finger portion from within said outer door and out of the path of movement of said inner door, whereby said doors are unlocked and free to move along their respective paths.

4. The cabinet as defined in claim 3 wherein said means includes a lock mounted in said frame and having a slidable plunger engaging the opposite end of said lock bar, and spring means normally urging said plunger in a direction to swing said lock bar to door-unlocking position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner.

BOBBY R. GAY, Examiner. 

1. A CABINET HAVING A FRAME PROVIDING AN OPEN FRONT, A PAIR OF DOORS FOR SELECTIVELY CLOSING SAID OPEN FRONT OF THE CABINET, TRACK MEANS ON SAID FRAME MOUNTING SAID DOORS FOR SLIDING MOVEMENT ALONG SPACED APART PARALLEL PATHS SAID DOORS BEING OF WIDTHS SUCH THAT WHEN CLOSED, THE INNER EGES THEREOF ARE DISPOSED IN OVERPLAPPING RELATION, A HORIZONTAL LOCK BAR PIVOTALLY MOUNTED INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS ON SAID FRAME ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS OFFSET INWARDLY OF SAID DOORS, ONE END OF SAID BAR BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT THE REGION OF THE INNER ENDS OF SAID DOORS WHEN CLOSED AND HAVING A HORIZONTAL FINGER PORTION PROJECTING FORWARDLY FROM SAID LOCK BAR ACROSS THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF ONE DOOR CLOSELY ADJACENT THE INNER EDGE THEREOF AND PROJECTING INTO THE OTHER DOOR, WHEREBY BOTH DOORS AND PREVENTED FROM MOVEMENT ALONG THEIR RESPECTIVE PATHS, AND MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY MOVING SAID LOCK BAR ABOUT ITS PIVOT TO WITHDRAW SAID FINGER PORTION FROM WITHIN SAID OTHER DOOR AND OUT OF THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAID ONE DOOR, WHEREBY SAID DOORS ARE UNLOCKED AND FREE TO MOVE ALONG THEIR RESPECTIVE PATHS. 